Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles

Abstract To investigate the influence of dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cyclic effects on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay, direct shear tests were performed on silty clay with different initial moisture content under the above cyclic conditions. A shear strength dete...

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Main Authors: Haotian Guo, Yinglian Sun, Chao Sun, Hongyan Gu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02497-8
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author Haotian Guo
Yinglian Sun
Chao Sun
Hongyan Gu
author_facet Haotian Guo
Yinglian Sun
Chao Sun
Hongyan Gu
author_sort Haotian Guo
collection DOAJ
description Abstract To investigate the influence of dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cyclic effects on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay, direct shear tests were performed on silty clay with different initial moisture content under the above cyclic conditions. A shear strength deterioration model of silty clay was established based on the indoor test data by using the Logistic function to predict shear strength parameters under dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles. Results are below. Under dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cycles, shear stress-displacement curves can be classified into strain-softening and strain-hardening types. Increasing the moisture content, decreasing the vertical stress, and increasing the cycle times of the three cycles mentioned above all promote the transition of the curve from strain-hardening to strain-softening. As dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cycles increase, the cohesion and internal friction angle deteriorate rapidly in the early stage and slowly in the later stage. The maximum degree of deterioration of shear strength parameters decreases as the moisture content increases during dry-wet cycles and dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles, while it increases during freeze-thaw cycles, with the highest during dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles. The research findings can predict and evaluate the shear performance of silty clay in seasonal frozen soil regions.
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spelling doaj-art-cf2abae7bdc04142b1ae90d93535c4ca2025-08-20T01:53:18ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111710.1038/s41598-025-02497-8Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cyclesHaotian Guo0Yinglian Sun1Chao Sun2Hongyan Gu3School of Geometrics and Prospecting Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu UniversitySchool of Geometrics and Prospecting Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu UniversitySchool of Geometrics and Prospecting Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu UniversitySchool of Geometrics and Prospecting Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu UniversityAbstract To investigate the influence of dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cyclic effects on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay, direct shear tests were performed on silty clay with different initial moisture content under the above cyclic conditions. A shear strength deterioration model of silty clay was established based on the indoor test data by using the Logistic function to predict shear strength parameters under dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles. Results are below. Under dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cycles, shear stress-displacement curves can be classified into strain-softening and strain-hardening types. Increasing the moisture content, decreasing the vertical stress, and increasing the cycle times of the three cycles mentioned above all promote the transition of the curve from strain-hardening to strain-softening. As dry-wet, freeze-thaw, and their coupled cycles increase, the cohesion and internal friction angle deteriorate rapidly in the early stage and slowly in the later stage. The maximum degree of deterioration of shear strength parameters decreases as the moisture content increases during dry-wet cycles and dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles, while it increases during freeze-thaw cycles, with the highest during dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles. The research findings can predict and evaluate the shear performance of silty clay in seasonal frozen soil regions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02497-8Silty clayDry-wet-freeze-thaw cycleShear strengthLogistic deterioration modelDirect shear test
spellingShingle Haotian Guo
Yinglian Sun
Chao Sun
Hongyan Gu
Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles
Scientific Reports
Silty clay
Dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycle
Shear strength
Logistic deterioration model
Direct shear test
title Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles
title_full Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles
title_fullStr Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles
title_full_unstemmed Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles
title_short Experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycles
title_sort experimental study on shear strength and deterioration behavior of silty clay under dry wet freeze thaw cycles
topic Silty clay
Dry-wet-freeze-thaw cycle
Shear strength
Logistic deterioration model
Direct shear test
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02497-8
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AT yingliansun experimentalstudyonshearstrengthanddeteriorationbehaviorofsiltyclayunderdrywetfreezethawcycles
AT chaosun experimentalstudyonshearstrengthanddeteriorationbehaviorofsiltyclayunderdrywetfreezethawcycles
AT hongyangu experimentalstudyonshearstrengthanddeteriorationbehaviorofsiltyclayunderdrywetfreezethawcycles